BMAGIC

In June 2011, the San Francisco Mayor’s Office, Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families, Violence Prevention and Intervention Unit has published a thirty-nine page report titled “Youth Violence Prevention Initiative: Local Action Plan”. We encourage you to download and share the document with your organization and service providers regarding this very important matter which address the City’s funding strategies and recommendations for community violence prevention and intervention efforts targeting youth and young adults between the ages of 10 and 25. The report outlines violence amongst teens and young adults, many of which are  African-Americans and Latina/os from our community.

Youth Violence Prevention Initiative Report

(PLEASE NOTE THE DEADLINE FOR THIS SCHOLARSHIP IS APPROACHING QUICKLY: Wednesday, June 22nd)

Mayor Edwin M. Lee’s

African American Scholarship Award:

I Am the Future 2011

Purpose:

The 2011 African American Scholarship assists low income African American youth from within the San Francisco Unified School District who are committed to pursuing higher education.

WHO CAN APPLY?

Applicants must be African American and graduating seniors from a San Francisco Unified School District high school for 2011.

WHAT IS THE SCHOLARSHIP BEING OFFERED?

Winner:

Scholarships will be awarded by the Mayor’s Office to be used at the college of your choice. Receiving this scholarship can affect your financial aid, so please check with your college or counselor.

HOW DO I APPLY?

Fill out the application form and submit it to the Mayor’s Office with a confirmation of your GPA, one letter of recommendation from a teacher or counselor and a typed 250-500 word essay. Students must submit the attached application completely with all components of the application by fax or email.  The deadline for submission is June 22, 2011.  Incomplete and/or late submissions will not be accepted.  After receiving your application, you will be contacted by our office to schedule an interview with our committee.

RULES AND CRITERIA

• You must be an African American student that resides in the City and County of San Francisco.
• You must be a graduating high school senior in the San Francisco Unified School District with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
• Completed Nomination Form with educator’s signature.
• You must submit verification of your cumulative GPA.
• All submissions must be typed, double-spaced, 12 font and no longer than 500 words.
• Write and submit  a 250-500 word essay, on either: the obstacles you have overcome in the quest to reach your personal goals; OR: describe how your family history, culture or environment shaped you into the person you are today.
• Include your name and the title of your essay at the top right corner.
• Must be faxed or emailed; only one essay per submission.  Please submit information to the attention of Tinisch Hollins, by email at Tinisch.Hollins@sfgov.org, by fax at 415.554.6474.  She may reached directly with additional questions at: 415.554.6550.

Please see the attached documents for application requirements and the application form:

AASA 2011

AASA Intro Letter

• United States citizens
• At least 18 years of age on or before the first day of the internship
• Currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program at a college, community college or university OR graduated in the past two years from undergraduate or graduate program at a college, community college or university

• A veteran of the United States Armed Forces who possesses a high school diploma or its equivalent and has served on active duty at any time over the past two years

• The spring internship term runs from January 17, 2012 – May 4, 2012
• Please visit our FAQ page for questions regarding quarter systems
• The White House internship program is an unpaid program
• The White House internship program is a full-time program
• Interns will be expected to work from approximately 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., Monday-Friday
• Hours may vary by office
• Please visit our FAQ page for questions regarding the definition of “full-time”

Do I have all my application materials?
A completed packet includes:

• The application for the Spring 2012 White House Internship will be posted from May 9, 2011 – September 11, 2011. All Spring 2012 White House Internship application materials MUST be submitted ON or BEFORE 11:59 p.m. EDT September 11, 2011.
• When an applicant enters a recommender’s email address into the application, the recommender will be sent an email with instructions on how to submit a recommendation for the applicant.
• When a letter of recommendation has been successfully submitted, both the applicant and the recommender will receive an email confirmation with the name of the recommender who has submitted a letter on the applicant’s behalf.

Click on the link below to apply:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/internships/apply/application

Bayview ACCE and allies have come together to start the 2011 Academic Summer Youth Employment Program. The first amount of money from the Core Community Benefits Agreement from the Bayview Hunters Point Combined Development Project will be spent on a model jobs program for District 10 Youth.  There are two programs being proposed.  The First is to have a program for youth in highschool who are at risk of dropping out.  The second builds upon the City’s Summer jobs program but starts later and focuses on older youth.    Attached is the application for the 18 to 25 year old, 8 week summer jobs program.

The goal with both programs is to create an analysis of all the programs and have  a group of youth who go through each to work with us to develop a model year round and Summer Jobs Program that places youth in permanent jobs.

Please send the two applications out to all those you know in District 10 (Potrero, Hunters Point, Bayview, Portola, and Visitacion Valley).

Applications below. Due Friday, June 10th, by 4pm.

D10SYEP2.2011.Part 2 of 2

D10SYEP2011.Part 1 of 2

Community and Neighborhood Courts are run by the District Attorney’s Office in partnership with the Police Department.

SIX Things You Should Know Before Making A Decision:

1. It is YOUR decision whether or not to  participate.

2. DO NOT say anything about your arrest or case to anyone until  you have decided to participate.

3.  You can speak to a defense attorney at no cost to you by calling the Public Defender’s Office at (415) 553-1671. Ask for the Attorney of the Day.

4. If you decide not to participate in a Community or Neighborhood Court, your case may or may not be prosecuted.

5. If your case is prosecuted and you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to defend you.

6. Your arrest will remain on your record even after you have fulfilled all obligations at a Community or Neighborhood Court.
Source: San Francisco Public Defender’s Office

Community.Courts.Flyer

May 25th, 2011 | Category: Press Releases

San Francisco, CA — A judicial decision handed down today effectively ends the San Francisco Housing Authority’s use of city-wide nuisance injunctions and dismisses all pending criminal cases against alleged violators, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi and ACLU of Northern California Legal Director Alan Schlosser announced.

The injunctions, which have been used since 2007, are unconstitutional, vague and overly restrictive to the point of infringing on an individual’s ability “to exist in San Francisco,” wrote San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Ulmer in his eight-page decision.

In the past four years, the Housing Authority has sought civil stay-away orders against 126 individuals whom its officials deemed to be nuisances. Default judgments were granted against 75 people. None was represented by legal counsel and most complaints were not based on criminal convictions.  Every injunction is identical; all 75 people are “ordered to stay away at least 150 yards from any and all San Francisco Housing Authority property, perpetually.”

Marcus Johnson, a San Francisco father of two who was represented jointly by the Public Defender and the ACLU of Northern California, challenged the law after being arrested for contempt of court four times in seven months for violating the injunction that was issued against him in February 2010. At the time of each arrest, Johnson was visiting his young children, who live with their mother in the Yerba Buena Plaza East development in the Western Addition.

“At a time when too many fathers fail to be involved in their children’s lives, Johnson is apparently trying to fulfill this important role. But the SFHA injunction bars that involvement from occurring in the home,” Ulmer wrote.

Deputy Public Defender Anne Irwin, who co-wrote the brief challenging the constitutionality of the practice last month, noted that the Housing Authority’s injunctions were the most restrictive in San Francisco. Unlike the city’s gang injunctions, which bar certain behaviors inside the restricted zones, the Housing Authority’s orders banish people completely and permanently from coming within 150 yards of any of the 53 Housing Authority properties located throughout San Francisco

Ulmer noted that the injunction barred Johnson from large swaths of his hometown, interfering not only with his ability to rear his children, but his ability to work, worship, eat and associate with family and friends – “in short, to exist in San Francisco.”

The civil complaint filed against Johnson by the Housing Authority did not contend that he was convicted of any crime, Ulmer noted, and the Housing Authority opted for a civil proceeding, which resulted in no contested hearing, live witnesses or cross examination.

“It is easy to say Johnson should have defended himself in civil court, but this asks a low-income person to …pay for a lawyer with money he may not have…” Ulmer wrote.

Adachi cheered the verdict as a victory for civil rights.

“Mr. Johnson should be free to visit his children without the threat of being arrested simply for being inside their home,” Adachi said. “Judge Ulmer’s decision reinforces that the right to due process is guaranteed to everyone, no matter their income level.”

Schlosser said the injunctions “blatantly disregarded fundamental constitutional rights.”  While pending criminal charges resulting from allegedly violating the injunction were dismissed against seven people, those bound by past judgments may have to go to court in order to return to Housing Authority property.

“There are approximately 50 individuals who are living under the same injunction and we are working to lift this unconstitutional burden from people who have never had their day in court,” Schlosser said

Chief Attorney Matt Gonzalez of the Public Defender’s Office said the decision exposed a wildly unconstitutional practice that flew under the public’s radar for years.

“While the city’s gang injunctions received a lot of attention, the Housing Authority was quietly barring San Franciscans from large chunks of their city, whether or not they had been convicted of any crime,” Gonzalez said.

Meredith Desautels, an attorney with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area was also involved in challenging the injunctions. Desautels today said the judge’s decision has broad implications for the future of civil injunctions.

“Injunctions are simply too blunt a tool to address the very important concerns of neighborhood stability and safety in a way that properly balances fundamental constitutional rights,” Desautels said. “As Mr. Johnson’s case makes clear, the desire to effectuate public safety goals through the civil court system is misguided and a waste of public resources.”

On May 23, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office filed a notice with Judge Ulmer, stating prosecutors would not oppose the constitutional challenge to the injunctions.

Judge Ulmer Opinion: SFHA Unconstitutional Injunctions